Nut-lock.



No. 637,426. Patented Nov. 2l, |899. B. F. SPARE.

NUT LOCK.

(Applicntibn led Oct. 21, 1898.)

(No Model.) FG

WITNESSEIS.

NITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN FEANKLYN SPARE, oF LONDON, ENGLAND, AssIGNoR To MARY SPARE, OFNEW YORK, N. Y.

Nuff-LOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 637,426, dated November21, 1899.

I Application filed October 21, 1898. Serial No. 694,244. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN FRANKLYN SPARE, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at 19 Brixton road, Brixton, London, in thecounty of Surrey, England, have invented anew and Improved Method of andDevice for Locking Nuts on Bolts, of which the following is a full andcomplete specification.

This invention relates to an improved means or method of and device forlocking nuts on their bolts, and thus preventing them from working looseowing to vibration or other causes, and is particularly applicable foruse in connection with the nuts and bolts used with fish-plates forrail-joints.

The invention comprises, broadly, a means for filling or partiallyfilling one or more of the threads of the bolt-screw which is or arenearest the outer face of the nut by means of a suitably-shaped piece ofwire or metal adapted to be anchored or fixed to an adjacent bolt or thelike.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a method of carrying myinvention into practice, Figures l and 2 are views in front elevation ofmy nut-locking device applied to two bolts in an open and lockedposition, respectively; and Fig. 3 is a view in plan thereof.

Throughout the views similar parts are marked with like letters ofreference.

In carrying my invention into practical effect, whereby the nuts on twoadjacent bolts are securely locked, I proceed as follows: After the nutsX have been screwed home a loop or link A, formed from sheet metal orwire and with or without one or more complete coils or convolutions onits ends of such a size or length as to just pass over the threaded endsof the bolts Y, is slipped on close up to the faces of the nuts X. Thecenter or middle portions a a of the loop or link A lying between thetwo bolts are then either drawn together or forced apart by any suitableform of tool, so as to put a tension or strain on the loop or link A,causing the ends thereof which encircle the bolts Y, and which are soshaped or are of such a cross-section as .to be capable of freelyentering and engaging the grooves or screw-threads of the said bolts, toengage wholly or partially with one or more of the grooves or threadsthereon, and so prevent any possibility of the nuts X shaking loose oreven being turned. I prefer to keep the link or loop A under this strainor tension by forming the link or loop A from a length of wire in such away as to allow of one or both the ends thereof being used as a clip ato retain the loop or link in its strained or tensioned position.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A device for locking nuts on bolts consisting of a length of wire bentinto a link or loop in such a manner that each of its ends or bendsforms one or more complete coils or convolutions of such a diameter anddistance apart as to just pass over the threaded ends of two adjacentbolts and to engage with or partially fill the threads thereof nearestthe outer faces of the nuts when the coils are contracted or reduced bytensioning or drawing together the middle portion of `the link or loop,such tension being maintained by so placing and bending the free ends ofthe wire forming the link or loop that one end engages a bend near theend of the other end which in turn engages the opposite side of the mainlink or loop at or near its center, as set forth.

BENJAMIN FRANKLYN SPARK.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. JAMES, ALFRED K. CROAD.

